North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been watching the first 100 days of the Joe Biden presidency and apparently doesn’t like what he’s seeing.
And he doesn’t much care for South Korea, either.
Part of the adverse reaction via several statements released by North Korea on Sunday was due to Biden’s recent words that referred to North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs as security threats. Sunday, North Korea labeled the words a “big blunder.”
A senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official said the U.S. could find a “grave situation,” and another statement warned of a “crisis beyond control in the near future” for the U.S.
The word salad continued after the U.S. State Department referred to North Korea as “one of the most repressive” regimes in the world.
An unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said the U.S. had insulted North Korea’s dignity by criticizing the country’s human rights situation.
The spokesperson saw it as a provocation, and proof that the U.S. is “girding itself up for an all-out showdown” with North Korea.
South Korea, too, was targeted for what North Korea called an “intolerable provocation” against Pyongyang.
And it’s a family act: A statement attributed to Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, warned South Korea would face consequences after North Korean defectors used balloons to send leaflets into North Korean territory.
Biden and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in are to meet in Washington this month.
As for Biden’s approach with Kim, he seeks a middle ground between President Trump’s and Barack Obama’s.
Trump met Kim Jong Un several times while in office and made claims of major progress, though no deal was reached.
North Korea doesn’t want to reduce its nuclear weapon capability without relief of current sanctions, and the U.S. wants a draw-down of nukes before relaxing any sanctions.
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